Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-10-20
DESTROYING A RAILROAD.
The EffectUaI aud Expeditions Method
Carried Out hN shrrinan,s Armx

Carried Out by shrrman's Army.
A knowledge of the art of building
railroads is certainly of more value to Il
country than that Of the best means of
destroying them; but at this particular
time the destruction seemed necessary
and the time may again come when such
work will be. necessary. Lest the most
effectual and expeditions method OF de
st-oyng railroad tracks should become
one Of the lost arts. | will here give a few
rules for the guidance Of officers who NAV
in future be charged with this important
duty. IL should be remembered that
these rules are the result Of long expert
ence and close observation. 4 detail Of
men to do the work should be made on
the evening before operations are to com
mence. The number to be detailed being
of course, dependent upon the amount of
work 10 be done, | estimate that 1909
men can easily destroy about five miles of
track per day, and do it thoroughly.
Before going ont in the morning the
men should he supplied with good break
fast, for it has been discovered that soldiers
are more efficient at this work. as well as
on the battlefield, when their stomachs are
full than when they are empty. The ques-
ton as to the food to be given the men for
1
roast turkeys, chickens. fresh eggs and
coffee, for the reason tina: in an encmy's
country such a breakfast will cause no
unpleasantness between the corlmissary
and the soldier, inasmuch as the comInis-
sary will only he required to provide the
coffee. In fact il has been discovered that
an army moving through hostile bu.
fertile country, having an efficient corps ..
foragers (yulgarly known in our army a
bummersl, requires but few articles of
food, such rs hardtack, coffee, salt, pepper
and sugar
Your detail should he divided into three
sections of about equal numbers. ] will
suppose the detail Ia consist Of 5000 men
The first thing To he done is to reverse the
relative positions Of the ties and iron rails.
placing the ties up and the rails under
them. To do this. Section No. I, consist
irg Of 900 men, is distributed along one
'ide OF the track, one man at the end Of
each tie. At given sigma! each man
seizes tie. lifts it gently till it assumes
vertical position. and then at another sig
nal pushes il forward so that when il
falls the ties will be over the rails Then
each man lonScns his tie from the rail
This done, Section No. moves forward to
another portion of the road. and Section
No. advances and is distributed along
the portion Of the road recently occupied
by Section No. /. The duty of the second
section is tn collect the ties, place them
in piles of about thirty ties each-place
the rails on top Of these piles, the center
Of each rail being over the center of the
pile. and then set fire to the ties. Section
No. : then follows No. /.
As soon as the rails are sufficiently
heated, Section No. 3 takes the place Of
No. ,, and upon this devolves the most
Important duty, viz, the effectual de-
struction Of the rail This section should
be in command Of an efficient officer, who
will see that the work is not slighted
Unless closely watched, soldiers will CON
tent themselves with bending the rails
around trees. This should never be per-
Jeitted. A rail which is simply bent can
easily he restored TO its original shape
No rail should be regarded as properly
treated till il has assumed the shape of a
doughnut; il must not only be bent but
twisted. To do the twisting Poe's rail
road hooks are necessary, for it has been
found that the soldiers will not seize the
hot iron bare handed This, however, is
the only thing looking toward the de-
struc'ion of property which ever knew &
man in Sherrnan's army to decline doing
With Poe's hooks a double twist can be
given to rail which precludes all hope of
restoring it 10 its former shape except by
recasting.-Gen. II. W. Slocum in The
Century